laurel city officials decided to order a voluntary evacuation and businesses, as the rushing water began to rise, one woman, a camper believed to be homeless, drowned, another man was injured. >> when you have major events, you have to do what you have to do. there was an awful lot of rain. >> reporter: in the misdemeanor st., the mayor said he would follow up with officials to find out why high-water officials were a surprise to them when they knew a storm was coming. >> i have concerns, and, you know, why this wasn't calculated, and planned for ahead of time. >> if we had known there would be 5 or 6 inches of rain, it might have been different. i think we acted appropriately. >> in the end laurel prepared for the worst. luckily the worst did not happen. as far as lessons learned, there's no guarantee. >> i think we did the best with the information we had available. >> reporter: the levels are looking great today, but it was a very different picture and story yesterday. coming up at 6:00, we talk with business owners and get their reaction to the last-minute voluntary evacuation. i'm t